Heineken delivered first-quarter beer sales ahead of expectations as people returned to pubs, bars and restaurants across Europe. Beer volumes rose 5.2 per cent on an organic basis. Analysts expected them to increase 4.6 per cent.
However the brewing giant has warned of rising beer prices. Chief executive Dolf van den Brink warned of “more macro-economic uncertainty” and “significant additional inflationary headwinds” in the months ahead and indicated the company may raise prices further.
Net revenue rose 24.9% to €5.8bn, resulting in net profit for the quarter of €417m, more than double the figure from a year earlier.
Heineken shares rose 3.2% on the news:
The increase in Europe was 11.5%, driven by a steady loosening of coronavirus restrictions, with Heineken’s beer sales in bars and restaurants there almost tripling.
The group said net revenues jumped by 24.9% to 5.7 billion euros (£4.7 billion) for the three months to March, as it was boosted by higher pricing.
The company said revenues also benefited from a 5.7% increase in volumes.
Mr Van den Brink added: “We had a solid start to the year, in line with our expectations, especially benefitting from strong channel mix from the partial on-trade recovery of Europe and assertive pricing across all regions.”Heineken has previously said it expects an impairment of €400m following its retreat from Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
The beermaker in February flagged that it was facing the worst inflation in a decade.
